The Sayyid Qutb Reader: Selected Writings on

In 2003, the journalist and political writer Paul Berman published a new classic and well known piece in the New York Times magazine called ? The Philosopher of Islamic Terror .? The subject of that piece was a hitherto relatively obscure Egyptian Islamic thinker by the name of Sayyid Qutb. Qutb was a radical Islamic fundamentalist theorist who rose to prominence in the Muslim Brotherhood. He was imprisoned in Egypt from 1954 to 1966 following an assassination attempt on Egyptian President Nasser. During his imprisonment, he penned an astonishing thirty volume commentary on the Q?uran entitled In the Shade Q?uran . Albert Bergesen, a professor of sociology and a long time researcher on political violence and transnational terrorism brings together for the first time the writings of the man who has been called in the media ?bin Laden?s brain.? The Sayyid Qutb Reader is essential reading for anyone interested in understanding the mind of the world?s most infamousterrorist and the ideology which motivates the global movement he has spawned.

Preface	p. viii
Acknowledgements	p. ix
Permissions acknowledgements	p. x
Life, context, and core ideas	p. 1
Sayyid Qutb in historical context	p. 3
Qutb's core ideas	p. 14
Selected writings	p. 33
Milestones	p. 35
Prologue, from In The Shade of the Qur'an, Volume 7: Surab 8, Al-Anfal (The spoils of war)	p. 43
Characteristics of the Islamic approach	p. 44
The liberation of mankind	p. 47
How defensive is jihad?	p. 49
A stage of no fighting	p. 51
What justification for jihad?	p. 54
A gulf too wide!	p. 56
A further point of view	p. 58
Misgivings about jihad	p. 59
The essence of jihad	p. 59
For God's cause	p. 60
Islam's revolutionary message	p. 61
Characteristics of the call for an Islamic change	p. 62
The need for jihad and its objective	p. 63
The universal revolution	p. 64
The Battle of Badr	p. 65
Rejecting wise counsel	p. 70
Qur'anic comments	p. 76
Why believers fight	p. 77
To sum up	p. 79
The basis of inter-communal relations, from In The Shade of the Qur'an, Volume 8: Surab 9, Al-Tawbah (The repentance)	p. 81
Overview	p. 81
Peace or no peace	p. 83
Under strong pressure	p. 85
The nature of Islamic international relations	p. 88
Crystallizing attitudes	p. 89
An announcement is made	p. 92
The principles of international relations	p. 94
Honouring commitments	p. 96
When the period of grace is over	p. 97
Asylum for the enemy	p. 99
No peace possible	p. 101
No obligation honoured	p. 102
An attitude confirmed by history	p. 104
Hostility unabated	p. 106
Doubts dispelled	p. 107
An order to fight	p. 109
Who may tend God's houses	p. 110
Attitudes shaped by feelings	p. 112
Reminder of a great event	p. 113
Large forces avail nothing	p. 114
The earth's suffocating expanse, from In The Shade of the Qur'an, Volume 8: Surab 9, Al-Tawbah (The repentance)	p. 117
Overview	p. 117
A very special contract	p. 119
A true promise and a profitable deal	p. 121
The characteristics of true believers	p. 122
An example to follow	p. 125
Acceptance of repentance	p. 126
A turn of mercy	p. 128
The hour of difficulty	p. 130
The case of one honest man	p. 132
Vacillating between extremes	p. 135
The whole world seems too narrow	p. 137
A reward for every little thing	p. 138
A task akin to fighting	p. 139
Uncompromising fight	p. 141
Islamic war ethics	p. 145
Hypocritical attitudes	p. 147
The Prophet's relationship with the believers	p. 148
Conclusion	p. 148
Religion and society in Christianity and in Islam, from Social Justice in Islam	p. 150
Sorrows of the countryside, from A Child from the Village	p. 160
Notes	p. 165
Index	p. 173
Table of Contents provided by Ingram. All Rights Reserved.

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The Sayyid Qutb Reader: Selected Writings on Politics, Religion, and Society

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